


Push and Shove, Give and Take

by rhetoricalrogue



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Story Retelling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27764629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhetoricalrogue/pseuds/rhetoricalrogue
Summary: A retelling of TWC Book One, from the perspective of one Detective Astrid Sinclair.  Title is very much a work in progress, may change at a later date.
Relationships: Female Detective/Adam du Mortain
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Astrid Sincliar slowly drifted up from a dreamless slumber to the sound of a deep, rumbling baritone voice close by her ear.

“Today is your day. You’ve got this.” Without opening her eyes, she grinned and stretched, letting out a satisfied sigh before snuggling against the pillows again. “Ignore everyone who tells you otherwise because you, you’re amazing.”

“Thanks, Chris. You really get me, don’t you?” Opening her eyes, she blinked as she looked up at the ceiling. Soft daylight was beginning to creep through the curtains pushed closed over her window and she sighed again as she rolled out of bed. 

“The only thing more beautiful than your smile is your personality. Yeah, I said it.” Picking her phone off the nightstand and unplugging it from the charger, she carried it with her towards her closet as she picked out her outfit for the day, her alarm continuing to give her positive affirmations. 

She was dressed and in the middle of brushing her teeth when someone rudely interrupted Mister Hemsworth’s constant stream of praise. “Sinclair,” she mumbled, spitting out the toothpaste foam into her sink.

“I hate to call you this early, but at least I know that you’re awake.” Tina’s voice chirped in her ear, but Astrid could tell that something was off by the tone she used. “Got your first case as a detective waiting for you.”

Rinsing her mouth, Astrid took the phone with her to the living room where she slipped on her shoes. “Whatcha got? Wait, let me guess: someone’s car got vandalized and you need me to investigate.”

Tina sighed. “I wish it were that simple. I hope you haven’t had breakfast yet, because someone’s been murdered and you’re needed on the scene before the onlookers can arrive.”

Astrid’s stomach lurched. A murder? Here, in Wayhaven? That was definitely a first for her. She gazed longingly at the coffee pot neatly tucked away in what could only be described as a shoebox of a kitchen. Making a pot and carting it to work in a thermos was going to have to wait for another day. “Give me the address, I’m leaving the house right now and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Immediately after she hung up with Tina, Chris’ voice rang out again. “Take the day by storm and remember this: I’m proud of you.”

She turned the alarm off. “Well, at least that makes one of us. Come on, Chris. We’ve got a murder scene to go to.”

* * *

“Hey!” Astrid rolled the window of her Jeep down and stuck her head out. “Police coming through! Move aside!” She flicked on the flashing lights that had been installed in her vehicle a few years back to save on fleet purchases and leaned her entire weight on the horn as she slowly inched towards a closer place to park her car. It took her finally flipping the switch to the siren that had also been installed in her car for people to part.

“Ugh, fucking spring weather…” Going from a vehicle with the heater on full-blast to being in blustery weather where winter refused to gracefully give up its grasp on the temperature always made shivers go down her spine. Straightening her shoulders out of the habitual protective hunch she had to keep her five foot nine frame as compact as possible, she swiped at a few errant strands of coppery red hair that had escaped from her neat, professional looking bun before making her way towards the police barricade that had been set up.

“Credentials, please, miss.”

Astrid looked at him incredulously. “Come on, Len. I haven’t had my first cup of coffee yet. It’s way too early to be playing the  _ haze the detective _ game.”

The older volunteer officer gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry. For what it’s worth, Astrid,” he told her, “It’s the mayor’s orders. Bigwig forensics team from the city is already here looking over the body, we’ve got to cross all our I’s and dot all the T’s so we look important while they’re here.”

She caught his implied tone. “I would have been here earlier, had I not had to wade through the rubbernecking crowd back there,” she grumped, wincing as she opened her jacket to pull out her ID while flashing her badge.

“Hopefully this will be a quick open and shut case,” he said, handing her ID back to her. “Good luck in there, Detective.”

“Thanks.” There was something satisfying about hearing a co-worker call her by her new title. She’d worked her ass off to get recognized as someone serious in her profession and she’d had several one-on-one talks with Captain Sung over the years where she stressed that while she recognized a small town precinct couldn’t offer her much in the way of upward mobility, she  _ was _ interested in moving as far up the precinct ladder as she possibly could. Thankfully, he’d taken her comments to heart and had spent time with her when he could to groom her for possible future positions, making sure that she was familiar with protocol and how the station ran. She’d also been resourceful enough to find educational development opportunities on her own that weren’t going to break the bank and she kept herself current on various certifications. 

God, those things hadn’t been cheap if she really added them up, and with the department’s nearly invisible budget for such things, she’d paid for them all out of pocket. 

While the promotion  _ had _ been a surprise - Astrid hadn’t expected the promotion for another few years down the road and hadn’t planned on it happening so soon on the career path goal plan she had made for herself - she had confidently accepted the position. There were some whispers around town, especially in the local beauty parlor - and  _ ugh _ , small town gossip was why Astrid often drove a few hours to the city to get touch ups on her own haircuts - that the promotion had come because the Captain was tired of the former Detective pickling herself in alcohol on the clock and Astrid had been the closest warm body to fill the seat so those duties wouldn’t cut into the Captain’s tee times with the mayor.

She paid that tidbit of gossip no mind. She knew her own strengths and she knew the rest of the department had her back.

Speaking of, Astrid walked towards a familiar figure. “So they finally let you through.”

She rolled her eyes. “Hey, Tina. Had to use the siren to get them to move.” Astrid put her hands into her jacket pockets. “Christ, this isn’t a movie set. We need to get them dispersed so the forensics team can do their job.”

Tina shrugged. “This is probably the biggest thing that’s happened in Wayhaven in years.” She arched her eyebrow. “If you don’t count the great Olive Oil Spill of ‘08 that is.”

Astrid curled her lip. “Ugh. I remember cleanup from that wrecked tanker truck was awful. The stuff that crews couldn’t clean gunked up the storm sewers for months and the Commission for Environmental Quality was breathing down the old mayor’s throat to get the town back in compliance.” She’d been twenty at the time, saving her money as she did college courses online before going out to a bigger university and working part-time as the daytime receptionist at the station. Police hadn’t been directly involved, but she’d gotten to overhear a lot of the grapevine gossip about the incident.

“I was still in high school, so the wreck and how it slicked up the road meant that I had a day or so off from school. That’s pretty much all I remember.”

Astrid glanced over her shoulder, where she could still see plenty of people with their phones out, though there really wasn’t much for them to capture. “So,” she said, clearing her throat and squaring her shoulders. “What do we have?”

“Nothing good.” Tina gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry this is how your first day on your new promotion is going. Guess you didn’t expect it to happen like this?”

Astrid blew a breath of air out past her lips. “I was hoping it would be a lot quieter,” she confessed.

“You and me both.” She gave her a little nudge with her elbow. “Though it would probably have been boring, being all cooped up in your fancy new office.”

She snorted. “I’d  _ hardly _ call that office fancy. Though at least there would be donuts. I’m betting there’s not going to be any left by the time we get back and the coffee pot’s going to be empty.” Astrid tipped her chin towards the alley where she could see the forensic team in their white jumpsuits combing the area over. “We’d better get over there then before Douglas eats the last apple fritter.”

“You’ve got this,” Tina told her, giving her a confident smile.

It did wonders to settle the butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach. “Thanks, I -” Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a shout from behind the police barricade.

“Excuse me! I’m the landlord of these apartments and I need to know what’s going on here! The safety of my tenants is at stake!”

Astrid looked around at the crumbling brick and overgrown lawns.  _ It looks like safety is  _ suddenly  _ a priority, _ she thought, but professionalism kept her from voicing those opinions out loud. “I’m sorry sir,” she said instead. “But we can’t give out details at this time.”

Tina stood near her. “I’ll take care of this, you go on ahead with the investigation, Detective,” she told her, giving the landlord a stern, but authoritative expression. Even though the two of them had been partners for some time, it still struck Astrid at how fast Tina could go from her regular bubbly, happy go lucky persona to stern and down to business in a blink of an eye.

Leaving her to take care of the landlord and dispersing the crowd of spectators, Astrid carefully made her way through the field of technicians, watching where they were working and seeing a clear path to where it was okay to step. Doctor Turner, the town’s physician, was already crouched over the body.

“Morning, Astrid,” he said, looking up from the body. “I’d say  _ good morning, _ but…” he gestured down towards the person lying on the damp concrete.

“Do we know who the victim is?” she asked, hitching her pant legs up a bit so she could also crouch next to him.

“No, haven’t had a chance to look. The _ city boys _ ,” Astrid caught the heavy dose of contempt that Doc Turner usually saved for the local kids who came into his clinic after breaking an arm or needing stitches after filming outrageous stunts for “that damned internet site” went wrong. “Made it clear that I wasn’t to touch the body until they’d finished. I was just waiting on you before I flipped them over.”

Astrid took the pair of gloves Doctor Turner pulled out of his coat pocket and snapped them on before helping him carefully turn the victim over. It wasn’t her first time handling a body, boating or swimming accidents and death by natural causes were more on her line of work, but it was the first time that she’d handled a person who had obviously been a victim of a violent crime, judging by the bruises on her pale, almost bloodless looking skin.

“I don’t know her,” she said, her voice a little thick as she wondered just who this woman was, what she was doing in Wayhaven, and who could have done something so awful to her. “Do you?”

“No, never seen her before.” He glanced at Astrid, who was clenching her jaw as she looked down at the victim. “Dealing with death never gets easy. I know this isn’t your first body, but if you need someone to talk about it, you know where my clinic is.”

She nodded. “Thanks, Doc.”

“Hey, I may have delivered you and given you all your booster shots as a kid, but you’re a colleague. My door is always open.”

“I appreciate it. Can you give me the time of death?”

“From here? Not really. The closest I can give you is a rough estimate, but your man Verda can pinpoint it in the lab.”

Astrid gave him a wry smile. “You know, my man Verda is really  _ our _ man Verda.”

The doctor gave a slight  _ harumph _ . “Transplanted city boy is what he is. It’ll take a few more years before he can get those roots he set down to take hold.”

“He’s good people.”

“Never said he wasn’t, just said he was from the city.” He stood up. “I’m just here for formality, to make sure the body’s dead.”

Astrid stood up with him, rolling off the gloves from her hands. “I just hope it won’t take too long to find more about  _ her _ ,” she said, quietly stressing the fact that the person staring lifelessly at the sky was a person and not an inanimate object. She knew that Doctor Turner had done it purposely as a way to distance himself from the fact and she didn’t judge him for doing so, but she tended to still keep things personal, to try to put herself in the victim’s shoes to see if she could piece things out from their perspective. Death was a rarity in Wayhaven, Astrid only having to do so maybe a handful of times in her career, but she never wanted to get so distant that she didn’t see the victim’s humanity.

“Good luck, Astrid,” he told her, throwing his gloves into the same container Astrid had flung hers in. “Looks like you’re going to need it.”

“Find anything out from the good doctor?” Tina asked as Astrid made her way back towards her.

“Not much, but we’ll know more once Verda gets a look at the victim.” Astrid jammed her hands back into her coat pockets as she tried to get some warmth into her fingers. “You okay with taking statements and talking with witnesses?”

“Yeah.” She held up her notepad, Astrid seeing that there were already some of Tina’s shorthand notes written in it. “I’ve already started.”

“Can you take Douglas with you? He can lend a hand.”

She made a face. “I’d probably be better off doing it alone. It’d take less time.”

Astrid matched her friend’s expression. “Yeah, but he needs the experience. Come on, you were nineteen once, you know how it is.”

“Yeah, yeah. But if I have to haul his lazy butt all over the place  _ and _ try to question witnesses…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give him a call at the station and tell him to be on his best behavior before I send him out to meet you.” Looking around, Astrid couldn’t find much else she’d be able to investigate for clues, not with the forensics team still in the area and the crowd of people still milling around. The amount of onlookers had diminished somewhat, but Astrid didn’t think she’d find anything with them causing distractions.

“Officer - I mean,  _ Detective  _ Sinclair! Over here!”

Astrid let out a quiet groan as she heard the voice calling out to her, her shoulders hunching protectively around her ears on instinct. Robert -  _ Bobby, call me Bobby _ \- Marks was one of the only journalists that Wayhaven’s sole newspaper employed, and it wasn’t unusual to see him around town, trying to get the scoop on any local news or tidbit of gossip he could get his hands on. Luckily, Astrid hadn’t had the displeasure of dealing with him often, the man gave off vibes that made her feel as if she needed to wash her hands immediately after dealing with him on the few occasions they had spoken. She didn’t agree with his methods of information gathering by way of bribes and tricking people into trusting him enough to divulge secrets, but as scummy as she thought he was, Astrid knew she could handle him well enough on her own. She just didn’t like having to do it.

It was too bad that he was passably attractive, in that smarmy, ex-preppy frat boy sort of way.

“What’s happened here?” he asked, his phone held out like a microphone.

“I’m sorry,” Astrid told him, giving him a professional looking smile that would look nice if the recording program he was using also had video. She learned a long time ago through other’s mishaps with the reporter to be on her guard at all times. “I can’t give out any information. Have a good day.”

“Nothing? Detective, surely you could…”

Oh, that charming smile he gave her was doing  _ nothing _ for her. “No, I can’t. Excuse me.” Moving past the barrier, Astrid let her long legs carry her further away from Bobby and most importantly, closer to her car and it’s heater.

* * *

After calling the station to speak with Douglas and let him know that she expected him to help Officer Poname while she questioned potential eyewitnesses, she texted Soloman Verda down in the station’s pathology lab to let him know what to expect. He texted back saying that he’d already gotten word of a body being brought for examination, but that it would be a while before he could give her anything to work with.

Seeing as she had missed breakfast, Astrid parked her jeep in front of Haley’s Bakery, frowning as she realized that while cute, the heeled boots she had decided to wear for the day were probably the wrong choice of footwear for traversing over the aesthetically pleasing yet slightly dangerous cobblestone street, no matter how chunky the heel.

“Good morning, Astrid,” Haley, the bakery’s owner, called out from behind the counter. She and Astrid had gone to school together since childhood. In fact, Astrid had briefly dated her brother in high school. He’d been a year older than she and it’d been thrilling to be able to attend the senior prom as his date. The breakup during the summer had been a friendly one, the distance between them the reason as he went out of Wayhaven for college and she was still in high school while taking as many core college classes as her schedule allowed. They’d kept in touch and were friends even now; he and his wife often inviting her over for dinner as a way to try out new menu options for their little restaurant and food truck business they had started. 

“Your place smells amazing,” she said as a greeting, rubbing her hands together as she walked up to the counter. “And  _ definitely _ a welcome sight from where I’ve been.”

“I heard. Your usual?”

Astrid looked down at the display case. “Can you add in one of those, whatever they are? They look great.”

“Not a problem. I’m trying out a new sausage and scrambled egg breakfast pastry, you’ll have to tell me what you think of them next time you come in.”

“Thanks, Haley, I owe you.”

Haley turned and filled up a paper cup with coffee, adding in a splash of creamer and a packet of sugar. “On the house.”

“Haley…”

“Think of it as my congratulations on getting the promotion gift to you then.” She pushed the paper cup towards her. “And as fuel to help you out on this murder case.”

Astrid took a sip of coffee and closed her eyes. “Ah, caffeine, how I’ve missed you.” She grimaced as Haley’s words sank in. “I guess it was too much to hope that word hadn’t traveled quickly.”

She gestured towards her mostly empty storefront. “You know how this town’s gossip mill goes. I’m surprised it got to me as soon as it did, seeing that my regular crowd was probably all standing outside the crime scene tape trying to find something to ogle at.”

“True.”

Haley gave her a supportive smile. “At least I know you’re out there protecting us. For what it’s worth, knowing that makes  _ me  _ sleep easier at night.”

The praise lifted her spirits. “Thanks.” Helping people and making them feel safe were some of the main draws towards joining the police force and it felt good to know that her efforts were paying off. Astrid jumped a little when the phone in her pocket buzzed. A quick look told her it was Verda, telling her that if she wanted, she could swing by his office for some preliminary information.

“Duty calls?”

“Yep.” She held up the bag. “Thanks again for the goodies. I’ll let you know about the new breakfast item!”

* * *

“Good morning, Douglas,” Astrid called out as she walked by the reception area of the station. She frowned as she saw him scramble to hide his phone, the music from whatever game he had been playing still coming through the speakers. In his fumbling, he managed to send the phone flying.

Thankfully, Astrid had finished the breakfast pastry on the short drive to the station, so she had a hand free to catch the phone before it landed on the floor. “Really?” 

“Sorry, Detective.” At least he had the grace to sound contrite. “I’ll put it away.”

She took another sip of coffee, sad that the cup was almost empty. “Douglas, I know the front desk is a boring job, believe me, I’ve been in your seat. But the fact is that I need to have a team here at the station that I can trust. How do you expect to move up for more important responsibilities when I don’t know if you’ll even do the bare minimum?”

He looked down. “I’m sorry. I’ll try harder, I promise.”

Astrid had a pang when he looked up at her from under overgrown bangs, looking all the world like a kicked puppy. “I know you will. That’s why I called to assign you to assist Officer Poname, or did getting to the next level in Candy Crush take priority?”

“I was heading over there!” To prove his point, Douglas slid off his chair and pulled on the jacket that was slung over the back of it. “Could I have my phone back?”

She thought about it for a second or two. “You know what? I think I should probably hang onto it for now. I’ll keep it safe until the end of the day.” Douglas opened his mouth as if to argue, but she cut him off. “You won’t be needing your phone while you help question eyewitnesses, and if we need to contact you, that’s what your radio is for.”

His shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Take some good notes while you’re out there, Douglas,” she called after him. “I want to be impressed when I see them!” She shook her head as she made her way towards the stairwell that would take her down to Verda’s lab. Douglas was a good kid, and the sole reason money had been flowing into the police station recently, but he was still just a kid. Astrid could see the potential he had to be a good officer if he wanted to keep up the interest, he just needed a firmer hand than what he was used to in order to reach that potential. Hopefully she could pay the mentorship that Captain Sung had given to her forward and make a difference with Douglas.

She looked at the sign prohibiting food and drink beyond that point and glanced mournfully at the last bits of coffee left in her cup. Haley made an excellent pot of coffee and it felt wasteful to chug it back, but it would have been an outright crime to throw it out. Wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket, Astrid tossed the empty cup into the nearby trash bin and pushed the door to the lab open.

“Jeez, Verda, want to hang meat in here while you’re at it?” she commented, shoving her hands back into her coat pockets. She had half a mind to button her coat up as well, not knowing how he stood working in such a chilly atmosphere.

“Probably wouldn’t be the best of ideas, seeing what goes on in this lab,” he quipped, turning to smile at her.

“True.” Her eyes went toward the mug of coffee at his desk. The handle had a small chip in it and the _#1 Dad_ logo was a bit faded, but the coffee inside was steaming hot. “Hey, I had to shotgun my cup before coming in here, no fair!” 

“Hey, I don’t make the rules, I just don’t abide by them.” He went over to the table set up far away from the examination tables. “You want a fresh one? I have plenty made to last me until lunch.”

“Thanks, but no.” Her eyes moved from the tempting view of coffee towards one of the examination tables. “So, you said you had some preliminary information. You haven’t started the autopsy yet?”

“No, not yet, but I will be soon.” He walked over to another table and lifted up an evidence bag. “I found this in her boot, you might want to check it out.”

Astrid held the cell phone in her hands and turned it on through the plastic of the bag. “I hope there’s some contact information in there that will help identify her. She could have a family somewhere that’s worried about her.”

“Hopefully. It would kill me if I …” Verda’s eyes darted over to his desk where there was a framed picture of himself and his family. Both of his daughters were so little still, but Astrid got the point. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I thought you might want to look at this now while you waited for autopsy results instead of getting it later. Other than the phone, all I can tell you right now is that it looks like she wasn’t killed at the scene. See these?” He pointed at the bruising at her wrists and ankles.

“So she was tied down?”

“Looks that way.”

Astrid pressed her thumb onto the phone’s home button, grateful that it wasn’t password protected. “Not many calls or texts in here,” she commented. “And nothing recent, so we can’t close a window from when she went missing till now from them.”

“Maybe she didn’t have much of a social life.”

Astrid shrugged. “Social lives are overrated, in my opinion.” 

“Careful. All work and no play makes Astrid a dull girl.” Verda leaned against an empty exam table. “Everyone needs a good work-life balance.”

She smirked. “I do all right on my own. Huh.”

“Huh?” He leaned forward. “You get anything?”

“Maybe.” She zoomed in on one of the recent pictures in the photo reel. “I think I recognize this place.” It was blurry, but the building looked vaguely familiar to her.

“Where do you think it is?”

“I could have sworn this looks like the old Farris Warehouse at the edge of town. Could just be a coincidence, maybe she’s someone from the city who wanted to do some urban exploration, but…”

“You don’t think that warehouse is where she was killed, do you?”

Astrid thumbed through the photo reel, finding a few more pictures that looked as if they had been taken while the victim had been moving. Each of them had a very close timestamp to the other. “I don’t know. It’s a possibility.”

Verda crossed his arms in front of him and frowned. “Are you going to investigate it? Alone?”

“I need to file some paperwork, but yes.”

His frown deepened. “Why don’t you take Tina with you? Two sets of eyes are better than one.”

She smiled, setting the phone down on the cart where Verda had piled the victim’s clothing. “Thanks for the concern, but I’ll be fine. The worse I’ll find out there are maybe some bats or kids trying to get frisky in the woods.”

He laughed with her. “Ah, to be young again.”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, we are hardly old. I bet you could still jump some fences, find ways to get into abandoned buildings for a night of romance with your sweetheart.”

Verda’s laugh turned into a snort. “Please. As thrilling as it is, Eric and I prefer the comforts of home where the risk of accidentally getting tetanus is significantly lower than wandering around some abandoned industrial building in the dark.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing out on.”

“I think I’ll take my chances.” He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. “Still, be careful. Capable as you are, I don’t have a good feeling about you investigating on your own. You know it gets dark soon still.”

Astrid put her hand on his and gave it a supportive squeeze. “I know. I promise, I’ll be careful. The minute I feel like there’s something wrong, I’ll leave and call for backup. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.” And with that, she gave him a wink and waved goodbye, making her way back up to the warmer areas of the station to continue her day.


	2. Chapter 2

“Okay,” Astrid said to herself, switching off the headlights to her jeep and killing the motor. “This is probably not one of my smartest plans.” She’d meant to get an early start on investigating the warehouse, but apparently not even the first murder in over thirty years could put a stop to the regular comings and goings of the Wayhaven Police Department. Astrid’s first day as Detective Sinclair was spent cooped up in Detective Reele’s old office with orders to have it cleaned out and in pristine condition coming directly from her Captain. She’d argued with him that she had a hunch and while he agreed that it was something that needed to be looked into, nothing was going to be done until Verda had completed his autopsy.  _ Like you said, _ Captain Sung had told her,  _ She could have been an urban explorer taking pictures around town. The warehouse could have been one of her last stops; this girl has pictures from all over the place in her photo reel to back that theory up. _

Luckily, her predecessor hadn’t kept much in the office, though Astrid had found a few empty bottles of scotch in a cabinet safe next to the desk. Still, it felt like she was spinning her wheels by spending the better part of the afternoon deep cleaning and daydreaming about replacing the nearly broken plastic and fake leather seating with something nicer that reflected her own design. At least she had a chance to organize the items she had taken from her old cubicle and put them into her new desk and take stock of what she would need to purchase for the office. As a person who thrived on making lists, she already had several items that she’d need to look online to shop. Unfortunately, the precinct budget didn’t quite allow for extravagant purchases, so anything that she bought would have to be charged to her own credit card.

But that was neither here nor there. Right now, she was faced with the outline of a crumbling warehouse at dusk, with the sunlight quickly fading behind a canopy of trees surrounding the area. This was definitely not one of her brightest moments, but like she told Verda, she didn’t expect to find much of anything except perhaps a colony of bats using the remains of the building as shelter or if she was lucky, busting some local teens who thought that the secluded nature of the warehouse would be a good place to either get drunk and fool around or experiment with drugs. It wasn’t as if she was unarmed either: she was equipped with a hefty flashlight that threw out a bright beam of light in front of her and a can of pepper spray. Even then, she wasn’t a slouch when it came to physical combat. She really hoped that she wouldn’t come in contact with anyone who would attack her, but Astrid was confident that she could deal with anything that she found.

She adjusted her shoulder holster underneath her jacket. She was a decent shot when it came to using her gun, but she  _ really _ hoped that she wouldn’t have to use it. De-escalation of situations was something she favored over brute force, and she wasn’t about to draw her weapon unless her life was in danger.

“Maybe I  _ should  _ wait until daylight,” she mumbled to herself, clicking on the flashlight and tugging her coat closer to herself to trap whatever warmth still lingered from the car ride inside her clothes. It was just that she had a gut feeling that she was going to find something in that warehouse and she knew that if she didn’t look now that she would wind up tossing and turning all night with the feeling that she had missed a valuable window of opportunity to find a clue that may not be there in the morning.

Taking a deep breath, she brandished the flashlight in front of her like a sword and began to circle the exterior of the warehouse for clues. She’d do things by the book, especially since she was the only one on the scene. A sweep of the exterior told her that it looked as if no one had been there for a while: leaves and bits of overgrown weeds were piled up against all the entrances, but there was an empty frame where a floor to ceiling window once stood, the glass crunching underfoot. She’d changed before heading out, making a quick pit stop to her apartment to swap her professional looking turtleneck and slacks for more practical jeans and long sleeve henley sweater under a battered leather motorcycle jacket. The heeled boots that looked nice yet had started to pinch had also been replaced with reliable hiking boots that were so broken in that it felt as if she was walking around barefoot most of the time. The bun her hair had been in all day had started to pull painfully at her scalp, so she took the pins out of her hair and settled on a low ponytail, stuffing her long hair underneath a warm knitted beanie. 

Just like she thought, she didn’t find anything except for some graffiti that she had to roll her eyes at. Whoever had done it had made sure their penmanship was perfect, and the sentiment spray painted on the wall was more like an amateurish attempt at poetry instead of anything dropping an f-bomb or two. She snorted, wondering if the kids on the rich side of town even  _ knew _ how to swear or if they thought that it was beneath them. Shaking her head, Astrid continued on her search.

By the time that she had investigated the majority of the bottom floor, night had truly set in. She gripped her flashlight tighter, trying not to remind herself of every single horror movie she had ever seen or any urban legend she had heard from childhood up until present. She clicked off her flashlight, feeling for the briefest moment as if something or someone was watching her.  _ It’s just your mind playing tricks on you, Sinclair, _ she thought, feeling stupid for working herself up.  _ Come on, the faster you get done here, the faster you can investigate the top floor and then get your ass home. _ There was leftover takeout from the night before and Netflix waiting for her, which admittedly wasn’t the most glamorous of things, but it was hers.

She was just about to click her flashlight back on when she  _ swore _ she saw a shadow move a few feet ahead of her that was shaped like a person. Flattening herself against a nearby column, Astrid peered into the darkness straining both her eyes to see if she could recreate the shape as well as her ears to attempt to hear anything that would signal that she wasn’t alone. After a good five minutes of staring into the darkness, she started to feel silly. Turning her flashlight back on confirmed that there was nothing there. Letting out a small sigh of relief, she continued her circuit around the bottom floor.

A flurry of motion behind her a minute later had Astrid scrambling for cover, instincts and training kicking in as she crouched behind some abandoned factory equipment. Hand at the pepper spray at her belt, Astrid trained her eyes on where the sound had come from and quickly realized that it was a flock of pigeons flying to the rafters. Her movement must have disturbed them from wherever they had been nesting, she frightening them way more than they meant to scare her.

“I am  _ so glad _ no one was here to see me -” She barely managed to clamp her hand over her mouth to muffle a surprised screech as her phone rang in her pocket. “Detective Sinclair,” she answered, embarrassed that her voice came out in a barely audible squeak.

“Astrid? You okay?”

She leaned against the equipment, belatedly thinking of the layer of dust and rust that was now probably on the back of her jacket. “Verda.” She cleared her throat and stood up. “Yeah. Looks like I was right, nothing here but a flock of birds. You missed it, they spooked the hell out of me just a few seconds ago.”

He chuckled, the sound calming her nerves. “Must have been some scare. You need me to call someone to your location?”

Even with the joking tone, Astrid could still hear the worry underneath. “There you go again with that concern for me.”

“Well,  _ somebody _ needs to worry about you. Might as well be me. You never know what sort of boogymen are creeping in the forest at night. Could be worse than a murderer, could be a whole pack of werewolves or other things that go bump in the night.”

She shook her head. “Werewolves? Really? Come on, Verda. Nothing that exciting ever happens in this town.”

“You never know. It  _ is _ a full moon, after all.”

“And you should know that werewolves are probably not going to make a home in creepy abandoned warehouses.” She looked around as she continued to walk. “This is  _ clearly _ prime vampire territory.”

“Ah. Forgive me. I must have been distracted by the odd findings in the autopsy, which is why I called you in the first place.”

That got her attention. “Odd? Odd like how?”

There was a sound of paperwork being shuffled on the other end of the line. “Odd, as in the blood in her veins isn’t hers. In fact, I don’t know if it’s even human blood.”

“Okay,” Astrid drawled. “That certainly classifies itself as odd. So, what? Do you think the killer tried to give her a transfusion of...animal blood?” It was a stretch, and a strange hypothesis, but she figured that if they crossed out the more fantastical theories that they could focus on realistic ones.

“Bingo on the transfusion, but a miss on the animal blood. Under the microscope, it  _ appears _ to resemble human blood cells, but there’s something off, like they’ve been mutated somehow.”

“Mutated? Like a disease? Do you think it’s anything contagious?”

“No. I can’t tell much with the equipment we have on hand, but I’m going to be sending samples to the hospital first thing in the morning.”

“Then it sounds like we’re both wrapping up our investigations for the night. There’s nothing here, I’m heading home.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Bright and early as usual.” Astrid terminated the call and slid her phone back into her jacket pocket. She was about to exit the warehouse the same way she came in, through the open window frame, but thought that it would be a good idea to at least test the heavy metal door to see if it was even locked in the first place. She was in the process of putting her shoulder into it, the rusted hinges protesting, when more noise sounded behind her.

“Fucking birds...shit!” She didn’t have much time to react when the sound grew louder and more distinguishable: footsteps, running towards her. She’d barely turned to face her potential attacker when they barrelled into her, sending her flying through the now opened front door. Luckily, she avoided landing in a pile of broken glass, the weeds and other vegetation gathered around the door cushioning her fall.

“Wayhaven Police, stay where you are!” she shouted, hands automatically reaching for the pepper spray at her belt. Her flashlight was flung out several feet ahead of her, the beam pointing more towards her car than the person looming ahead of her. At least backlit with the flashlight beam and the full moon overhead, Astrid could make out the vague outline of a man, tall and gangly. Her skin crawled at the way he stood absolutely still, the two of them staring the other down as if waiting for the other to make the first move.

“You’re going to have to come with me, I have questions -” Anything that she was going to say next was cut short as another figure seemed to materialize out of nowhere, slamming the first figure directly into the side of Astrid’s jeep. Her heart hammering in her chest, she realized that  _ three more _ people had appeared from the darkness. Thankfully, they had their backs to her, as if they had deemed her a non-threat, and were more interested in the two figures currently wrestling somewhere behind her jeep, if the noise that came from that direction was anything to go by.

_ Oh, this is so not good. _ “Everyone  _ stop _ ! I’m with the police!” Her shout got the attention of the trio in front of her and she gripped the can of spray tighter as they almost seemed to turn to stare at her in unison.

“Who the hell is she?” one of them asked.

“Didn’t you hear? She’s with the police.” Motion behind Astrid’s car caught their attention, Astrid’s eyes widening as she saw her vehicle rocking to the side before falling heavily back on all four tires. The taller of the two figures threw the shorter one across the hood, the crunch of metal shaking Astrid out of her stupor. 

“I said, freeze!” Adrenaline made her voice boom out into the night, the order echoing around them. “Stop what you’re doing and move where I can see you!” Even in the darkness, Astrid could see the figure pinning the shorter man to the hood of her car glancing up to look at her, but unfortunately the man he was holding used the distraction to his advantage, swinging his fist into the figure’s jaw. It was enough to make the figure stagger back, allowing the man to escape.

The guy  _ had _ to have been on PCP or something, there was no way he could have moved as fast as he did otherwise.

“Don’t let him go!” the figure barked, leaning a hand on the hood of Astrid’s car while rubbing at their jaw with the other.

“No! Stay where you are! Hands up where I can see them!” It was dark, so she was hoping that they thought she was brandishing a gun at them instead of a can of mace. Getting decent to near-perfect groupings on a paper target was one thing, but actually shooting at a live target was something completely different. Astrid had never done so, and she hoped that she wouldn’t have to start tonight. Her eyes moved from the three figures - two females and a male - closest to her to the one still leaning on her car. There was no way that she’d be able to dive around him to get into her car where her radio was and even then, backup wouldn’t magically arrive as soon as she pushed the button for help. She was a good twenty minutes away from the station and as small as Wayhaven was, they only had a handful of officers on duty at any given moment. Most were at home having dinner with their families right about now.

She was alone, outnumbered, with only her wits and her industrial strength pepper spray to help her. Her finger tightened on the canister’s trigger.

The taller of the figures took a step closer. “Look, Officer, whoever you are…”

“I said, nobody move!” She took a step to the side to keep everyone in her field of vision. “We are going to figure out what’s going on here and then you four are coming with me to the station for questioning.”

“And what if we don’t want to go?” Astrid’s eyes moved over to one of the shorter figures, the voice sounding feminine. “What then?”

The taller one held his hands out to show he wasn’t a threat. “Can we  _ please _ not antagonize the officer? Please, we don’t want this to escalate to violence.”

“I’m just  _ saying _ …”

There was a scoff and Astrid whirled over to face the other shorter figure. “It’s pretty damn obvious she’s not going to  _ shoot _ us, she’s not even holding a gun.”

“I  _ am _ armed,” Astrid warned, shifting her weight so she was balanced. Her back and shoulders hurt from the fall she had taken earlier, but she wasn’t going to give any sort of weakness away to these strangers. “If you do not comply with orders, I  _ will _ shoot.”

“She’s bluffing.” This from the second woman. “I say knock her out and let’s go.”

There was movement in Astrid’s peripheral vision and she turned just in time to see the one who had been close to her car move towards her. Adrenaline was probably the reason she did it, but her fingers gripped the trigger so tightly that before she knew it, she had dispensed the entire contents of the can onto the man. She watched as he stumbled back, hands raised up in an attempt to shield his face, but instead of falling over in pain like the can promised, he merely made disgusted sounds as he wiped at the liquid she’d shot at his eyes, hands flicking it to the ground before going back to wipe at his nose and mouth.  _ Was the can expired? We haven’t used these ever, did we get a bad batch? _ Without losing a beat, she dropped the can and grabbed the gun from her shoulder holster, pointing it in the direction of the man, but not directly at him.

The peal of laughter caught her attention and while she didn’t quite round over to them, she tried to focus on the woman while keeping her eyes trained on the man she’d just pepper sprayed. “I can’t believe…” the woman was nearly bent over double, hand reaching out to grab onto the tallest of the three for balance. “She  _ pepper sprayed him! _ Got him  _ good  _ too! Best night ever!”

“Shut  _ up _ ,” the man she’d sprayed growled, still wiping at his face.

“That was a warning,” Astrid called out, finger hovering near the trigger, but definitely not on it. “Now come with me, all of you.” She was still trying to figure out the logistics of how she was going to get four individuals into her jeep without fuss - and without the proper amount of handcuffs. She had zip ties in her glove compartment, but without backup to help make sure that the individuals stayed put while she retrieved them, she didn’t know how this was going to play out, especially now that her gun was drawn.  _ This was  _ such _ a bad idea to go alone… _ \- when the doors to the warehouse creaked open in the breeze, sending them banging into the side of the building. In the silence, the noise sounded like a gunshot and she tensed, whirling around to face whoever may have snuck up behind her. Finding no one, she quickly pivoted back to the four individuals....

Only to find them gone.

“What the -  _ hey _ !” Darting over to her fallen flashlight, she grabbed it and turned around in rapid circles, shining the light in every direction to see if she could find where they went. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find a trace.  _ It wasn’t like they could have just vanished, _ she thought, bending to pick up the used can of pepper spray before groaning at the dents in the hood of her car.  _ Those _ at least told her that she hadn’t imagined the whole thing, as did her sore shoulder and hip that sent a dull ache throbbing down one side of her body.

Sitting made her hip hurt even more and she turned on her headlights after making sure all her doors were locked. Alone, she let out a string of curses as she grabbed her radio installed in the console of her vehicle and clicked the transmission button. “Detective Sinclair to the station, over.”

There was a beat before the night shift volunteer picked up. “Evening, Detective. What can I do for you?”

She rested her head against the back of her seat and then chastised herself for doing so. “I just had an encounter with four - correction, five - unknown individuals over at the old Farris Warehouse. Put out an alert for the officers on duty.”

“Ten-four. What sort of descriptions do you have for the individuals?”

Astrid turned on the car and backed away from where she had parked, slowly making her way down the road and back into town. “It was too dark to get accurate details, but they appeared to be three men and two women. Possible identifying feature would be for one man to come into the hospital suffering from complications from pepper spray.”

“Would you consider them dangerous?”

She nervously looked in her rearview mirror, all but expecting them to suddenly show up in the road behind her. “No. As far as I know, they’re unarmed, but they didn’t sound like anyone I’m familiar with. Could just be some people from out of town, but with this morning’s events, I really don’t want to take any chances.”

“Ten-four I’ll contact the officers on call to let them know. What’s your twenty?”

“Currently heading back into town. I’m going to drop by the station, I’ll fill you in once I get there.” She regretted saying it as soon as it left her mouth. All she really wanted to do was go home and take a long, hot shower before crawling into bed for some much-needed rest.

But then again, duty calls. Besides, it would give her a chance to drop off the spent canister of pepper spray so she could investigate if they had been given a faulty batch from their distributor and write down some notes while the evening’s events were still fresh in her head. If she drove a little faster than she usually did while feeling paranoid that someone - five someones - were out in the woods watching as she drove back into town, at least there was no one around to call her out on it.


End file.
